Blood Promise
by Meagan Brooke
Summary: This is my version of Blood Promise. Rose is crushed when her lover/mentor is turned into an evil, murderous vampire, but, when she finds him, will she kill him or join him? Will she keep her promise to Adrian? Will she even come back at all?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As I walked briskly away from the Academy, I could feel a million emotions gushing into my head from the bond: anger because I was leaving her, jealousy because I chose Him over her, resentment that I was able to just run away from her and the school, hope because I promised that I would be back for her, fear that He would kill me, and courage because she knew I could handle anything.

_Just don't die on me, Rose. If you died, I'd have to die too. I love you—be careful._

A single tear rolled down my cheek as I walked away, and I tried for all I was worth to keep it together. I could handle this, Lissa was right. I could feel the three stakes that I had stolen before I left cutting into my skin. I had hidden one in my boot, one on the inside of my long jacket, and one in a hard-to-find compartment in my backpack. All I could do now was hope that Dim—that He did not kill too many before I found him. I would not allow myself to think of that thing as Dimitri. Not my beautiful, loving, perfect Dimitri. This thing was a monster, not that man I loved.

So I set out to Missoula, to look first at the mall where he once bought me lip gloss, then at the house in Spokane where I had made my first kill. Then, if he was not there, I would catch a plane to Siberia—his home.

I had reached the highway by then, so I stepped to the side of the road to flag down a car and hitch a ride to Missoula. I wasn't scared of humans now, I had handled much worse. Three cars went by before one actually stopped for me. It was a silver Kia with two young-looking guys in the driver and passenger seats. It stopped in front of me, the window rolling down. My back straightened. _I really hope they're not perverts_, I wished silently.

"Hey, you need a ride?" the guy with the blonde hair called. He was driving. His friend in the passenger seat was looking at me with concern, and I realized how crazy I probably looked: a girl with long, almost-black hair, wearing all black, with a black backpack that was stuffed full, black boots with a shiny metal stake stuffed down them (only the handle was visible), and winter clothes thick enough for Siberia (which is where I was probably going). I probably looked like some weird goth hitchhiker, or I looked like a bounty hunter. I giggled to myself—I sortof _was_ a bounty hunter. The guy staring at me also had blond hair. Both of them looked to be about twenty-one or so.

"Yeah. Are you guys going through Missoula?"

"Yeah, we are. Hop in." he gave me a dazzling smile, and I noticed his super-white teeth. I opened the door and slid in, hoping they weren't weird or anything, though I'm pretty sure that they were thinking the same about me.

"I'm Daron, and this is my twin brother, Cal. We live in Missoula—just on our way back from visiting our aunt" he sure was a talker.

"Thanks for giving me a ride. I'm Rose; I go to St. Vladimir's Academy just a little ways from here." I glanced at Cal. He hadn't said a word.

"No problem. Running away or something?" he sure was nosy.

"Sortof, I guess. Just have some stuff to take care of and I don't want anyone tagging along." They didn't need to know what kind of business.

"Hmm…" was all he said then. He must have run out of questions. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, until Cal turned around and suspiciously glared at my boot, where my stake was shoved down into it.

"What is that?" he said pointedly.

Crap. "Pepper spray," I lied. He didn't buy it.

"You're lying." He raised an eyebrow, and it took all I had not to start crying right there. He looked so like Dimitri in that moment that my heart ripped in half all over again. "What is it?" he demanded

I leaned forward to where I was about eight inches away from his face. He jumped, not expecting me to move so close or so fast. I forgot that I moved about ten times faster that any human. I knew he wouldn't believe me, so I told him the truth. "It's a stake, of course—I hunt vampires for a living." I smiled at him. Daron almost swerved into a tree, he laughed so hard, but Cal's eyes widened and I knew that he knew I wasn't joking. But he didn't freak out and try to kill me or anything, or even throw me out of the car. Interesting.

"Oh, I see," he said. He started to turn around, but I stopped him by lightly placing my hand on his arm. He glanced at me, obviously confused, and I put one finger across my lips, telling him with my eyes that it was our little secret. He studied me for a moment, then smiled and turned around. I let out the breath I had been holding.

We made it to Missoula without any more conversation, and when we neared the bank, I told them it was my stop. I opened the door and climbed out.

"Nice meeting you, Rose," Daron smiled charmingly. He was actually quite attractive, but his brother definitely had the better looks, I thought. "Nice to meet you…" Cal said. He was uncomfortable, and I wondered why—but I guess finding out that you had picked up a vampire hunter and drove her to your town was kind of taking a toll on him.

"Nice to meet you guys, too. And thanks for picking me up. I might have had to walk here otherwise." I laughed and gave Cal my most heart-breaking smile, hoping that it might help to persuade him to my secret. He smiled back, and I turned around and went into the bank. I went up to the counter and told them that I was withdrawing from Adrian Ivashkov's account, and said that he should have called to tell them I was coming. The woman said that he did, and she made me sign some papers. She handed me a debit card and I thanked her and set off to the mall.

I cased the place thoroughly, along with the surrounding area. I saw no signs of Strigoi. Feeling a bit relieved, I went to the bus stop, just barely catching one that would get me to Spokane. I searched there too, finding no clues. I checked into a hotel and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I was running, and the nausea that I felt let me know that he was close behind me. Too close. I picked up the pace, my legs screaming from the exertion. I dodged in and out of trees, hoping to lose him, but he knew my scent too well. He was gaining on me, but I couldn't go any faster. So I turned to fight, my stake raised to strike him. He stopped about eight feet from me.

"Roza, please," he pleaded with me, managing to look so much like the Dimitri that I loved that my heart flipped over.

"No! You're not Dimitri," I screamed. I spat at him, "You're a monster!" we circled each other. He put his hand out to sfhow me he wasn't armed. Like that mattered when he was super-fast, super-strong, and super-deadly.

"Please, it's me! Please! I love you! My Roza, I love you so much. I tried so long to hide it from you, but it doesn't matter any more! I love you, no matter what we are, no matter how old we are!" his voice was so pleading that I faltered, losing my control. He saw it and rushed to me, pulling me into his arms. His face rested against my hair, and he kissed the top of my head. I couldn't stop myself. I dropped my stake, throwing my arms around his neck.

I said nothing; just let the tears run down my face. It did not surprise me when his lips found mine, and I kissed him back. He stopped when I was gasping for breath, hugging me again so that his head rested against my neck.

"I love you, _Roza_. I always will. Forever," and his teeth clamped down on my neck. I screamed.

And then I woke up, but not completely. I was still screaming and my face was soaked with tears. I found myself in Adrian's meadow.

"That has to be the worst nightmare I've experienced," his face showed no sign of his usual sarcasm. And I realized that he wasn't drunk, for once. He looked slightly nauseas. "You okay, little dhampir?" I was sitting on the ground, my knees curled up under my chin, rocking myself back and forth. He sat down beside me, throwing a comforting arm around my shoulders and rubbing my arm.

"No," I sobbed. I threw myself at him, digging my head into his chest and clutching his shirt with my fingers. He pulled me in and ran his hand comfortingly over my shoulder. He let me cry into his shirtfront for what seemed like forever. Finally, the tears stopped and I pulled back enough to see his face. "I'm sorry…" I didn't know quite what to say.

"Don't worry about it," he smiled. I smiled back and hugged him again.

"I have to go. I need to find him before he kills too many. Or anyone, for that matter," I said, trying to pull away.

"Okay, Rose. But be careful," he pleaded with me, and I knew that he actually cared. He pushed my hair back from my face and kissed my forehead. I must have looked surprised, because he chuckled when he saw my face. He released me.

"Bye Adrian,"

"Goodbye, little dhampir…"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day, I boarded the plane to Siberia. I was almost positive that I would find him there. I slept most of the way there, only waking up screaming once. When the plane landed, I started walking. And, thanks to Adrian, I didn't freeze to death; his money had bought me the heavy jackets I was wearing. I didn't know where I was going, but I had a feeling that I would have to look far. _With my luck, he'll find me._

I'd been walking for about three hours when I heard something. I whipped around, scanning the area around me. I could feel someone watching me. The nausea told me that there were three Strigoi lurking in the shadows. I was surrounded by snow-covered trees, (I had been walking through a forest) so it was hard to see anything beyond about six yards. I pulled out my stake.

A twig snapped, and I snapped my head around to look in that direction. I found three pairs of red eyes looking out from between the trees. I backed up, bending my knees and getting ready to fight. One of the Strigoi stepped out. He looked hungry. I coiled my muscles, ready to spring on him.

"Pause, young one. We wish only to speak with you," he drawled, sounding extremely bored, like he thought he could take me. _We'll see about that. _By the looks of him, he had been a Moroi before he changed, and he was very old.

"Then speak. But don't come any closer unless you want to die," I threatened, not moving an inch

"Fair enough," he said, crossing his arms. "Now, what on earth would possess a young dhampir to come to Siberia, all on her own?" he questioned me.

"What does that have to do with me killing you?" I said. I was not about to go spilling my sad story to some Strigoi.

He laughed, and it came much too loud to my sensitive ears in this quiet forest. "Well, what is it?" he demanded, "Glory? Are you going to kill all of the Strigoi in Russia so you can go home and brag? Or is it something else? Like…oh, I don't know…. Love?" he seemed to know way too much about me, and I wondered if he had seen the Strigoi that used to be my Dimitri.

"Maybe, maybe not," I said defensively. He was really getting on my nerves.

He laughed again. "Do not try to hide anything from me, young one. I know all about you and your Dimitri. I spoke with him, you know." I flinched when he said the name.

"So, he is here. I knew he would be," I said, even though I knew I was taking the bait. He probably just wanted to get a reaction out of me. But how did he know about Dimitri?

"Yes, he is here. He spoke of you; he described you perfectly, I must say. He knows that you are coming for him. He's waiting for you," he said. I was anxious to get this conversation over with; the nausea was getting steadily worse.

"Good. I could find him a lot faster if you just told me where he is…" I took a step closer.

"I could," he laughed, 'but it would take all the fun out of it. He is in this direction, however." He pointed east.

"Thanks. Sorry about this." I sprang at him, but dodged left at the last second, my leg catching him behind the knees. I was on him in a flash, struggling to shove the stake through his heart.

His hand smacked hard against my chest, propelling me off of him and into the tree behind me. I grunted when I hit the tree. It hurt like hell, and I was pretty sure that my sternum was at least cracked, if it wasn't broken. I sprang up within seconds.

"Nice try," he smirked. I dove at him again, this time managing to stab his leg with the stake. He screamed, "You little—"I got him through the stomach. "You'll pay! He'll kill you, you little brat—"He let out a horrible shriek when I finally managed to get the stake through his heart.

I stepped back, breathing hard. I had just remembered the other two when they jumped at me. I barely got out of their way before they collided with each other. Idiots. I staked one while they were distracted, shoving him away and into the snow.

The one left growled and backhanded me. I stumbled backward and laughed, "It's just you and me now, ugly." I mocked him. The 'ugly' comment seemed to set him off; he lunged at me. I blocked him, but he hit me hard in the side of the head. I staggered sideways, and he was on top of me before I could move. His head came down to my neck, and I tried to distract him by kicking him, hitting him, and just thrashing around. I pushed my leg up and between us, kicking him in the stomach. He fell of off me. I took the opening to stake him.

I stepped back, surprised at how quickly the fight was over. I was breathing hard, and my chest hurt badly. Picking my backpack up from where it had been thrown, I searched it for a lighter and something to wrap my wound with. I found the lighter and set it on the ground. Pulling out the first aid kit, I found a brace and some antiseptic. First, I cleaned the wound from my head, which was still bleeding. I didn't bother bandaging it; it would heal quickly. I used the brace to support my ribs and sternum by wrapping it up and around my right shoulder, across my chest, up and over my left arm, and around my ribs. I did it loose enough to let myself breathe freely, though, knowing that restricting my breathing would give me pneumonia.

I looked down at the Strigoi bodies. "Maybe I should just leave them," I said aloud, but then I saw how close the sun was to setting. I didn't want the smell to draw others here; I would have to spend the night. So I tore a small piece of cloth from each of them and put them in my backpack—I wanted to keep track of how many I killed.

Then I burned them.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Hey guys. I just thought that I would take the opportunity to say thanks for reading my fanfic! Haha… But please review! I can't get any better if you don't tell me what's wrong! So review! If you see any grammar errors or misspelled words, or you need to ask a question, just go ahead and tell me. And, if you have any ideas, please tell, because I can always use some help. However, please keep mean comments to yourselves. I appreciate constructive criticism, but comments like, "this sucks, keep your day job because you can't write!" are uncalled for. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or the original characters, but all additions to the story, the thoughts and dialogue, and everything that happens is all me. Hehe**

**Thanks! ~Meagan**

**Oh yeah, and Gabby, the next chapter I post is yours! *evil laugh***

After the bodies were reduced to ashes, I put away the lighter and curled up into a ball with my back to a large rock. I had no intention of sleeping, anticipating another attack before the night was over, but I could not stay awake.

In my dreams, I found Adrian. "Rose!" he called as he ran up to me. He gave me a warm hug then took me by the shoulders and looked me over. "What happened?" he asked. He had seen my head and the blood that dried in my hair.

"Strigoi. Three of them. The leader knew where I can find him."

"But what happened?" he repeated, now looking at the bandage around my chest.

"Oh, this. I tackled him and he pushed me into a tree," I rubbed my back, " and I bet I have a wicked bruise here."

"Let me see," he said with concern.

"Umm…" I was kindof freaked out about him touching me, but I let him, knowing that he just wanted to help. He turned me around and raised the back of my shirt to where my bra was clasped. He gasped. "What is it?" I asked. I'd expected a bruise, but by the way it sounded, I got much worse than that.

"It's horrible…" he said, "It's a bruise, that's for sure." His hand traced gently up my spine, and I cried out in pain. "Sorry…. I wonder…" he said in a weird, faraway tone. Then I felt my back tingling. I whipped around, causing my chest to catch. I yelped and collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. He knelt down and looked at me.

"Did you just heal me?" I gasped, out of breath.

"I think so," he answered me. He looked just as shocked as I was.

"How is that possible? I'm thousands of miles away…I…but—"I stuttered.

"I don't know, but let me heal these, too," he pleaded. I sighed, knowing that his magic was not as strong as Lissa's, so this was taking a lot of his energy. Finally, I nodded. I slid off my jacket, wincing when my chest throbbed. I had on a tank top under the jacket in my dream, so I could see the bruise. It was purple and black and stretched from the base of my neck to continue down under my shirt. "Ouch…" I whispered. He placed his hands over the bruise, and I whimpered, my eyes tearing up. Then I felt the area tingle, just like my back had. I looked down and the bruise was gone. He did the same with my head.

He sank down beside me, looking like he might faint.

"Whoa. This is weird. Thanks," I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He looked surprised, and possibly a little less green than he had been a moment before.

"It's no problem, Rose, if it will get you home faster. Is it wrong of me to say that I hope you find him?" some of his usual sarcasm crept into his voice.

"No. No, Adrian. I _want_ to find him. I _need_ to find him, and soon. He wouldn't want this—he wouldn't want to be a monster. We talked about it once." A tear leaked down my face, but I was quick to swipe it away. "And maybe then I can move on…" I let my voice trail off.

"Don't rush it, little dhampir. You need to heal first; he was your first love.

"Yes…too bad this isn't something you can just fix," I laughed weakly.

"Maybe I can," he said, "Maybe when you get back, I can try." I smiled sadly, not at all sure if I was okay with that. I hoped that I would be able to let him help me, to give him a fighting chance when I got back. "You need to wake up now, little dhampir. I'll see you the next time you sleep," he chuckled. He leaned forward, kissing me on the forehead again.

"Goodbye, Adrian."

"Be careful, Rose."

"I will." And then I woke up. No attacks had been made during the night, thankfully, but something was off, I thought.

I picked myself up off of the ground, my legs stiff from sleeping in the fetal position. I did not feel nauseas, so I knew that no Strigoi were lurking in the shadows. Nevertheless, I searched the woods around my makeshift campsite. I found nothing, and passed the weird feeling off as paranoia.

So, I set off to the east—the direction the chatty Strigoi had told me to go.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**For you, Gabby!! I'll put an asterisk on the paragraph. 3**

It was a rather nice day, the sun was unnaturally bright, though. I walked most of the day, only stopping to rest for about ten minutes. I made a good pace, seeing as how Adrian had, by some freaky side-affect of Spirit, healed me, so I'd traveled about sixty miles.

About thirty minutes away from sunset, I stumbled across a really weird-looking rock. I mean, it was really out of place, and pine needles were scattered around it, despite the fact that the closest trees were a good six meters away. I was sure that it was a trap; it was like someone had wanted me to find it.

I rolled the rock over and kicked the leaves away. What I found was really not what I had expected: it was a cave. I couldn't tell how far it went into the ground, but, by the looks of it, it went about eight feet down at a steady slope, then leveled out. _Now the question is: Am I dumb enough to go in? Especially now that there are only about twenty minutes before it's Strigoi happy hour?_ I asked myself. I realized that I hadn't made a good sarcastic remark since I left the Academy…

"Hope I'm not losing my edge," I mused, "I'll need it when I find him."

I knew without a doubt that this was a Strigoi hideout. And I also knew that the twenty minutes of sunlight did not matter, considering it was underground. I was going in.

"As long as I'm going to do something stupid, I might as well check the woods to make sure nothing's going to pile in on top of me."

I turned and made my way into the trees, stopping for a second to tell myself to be careful. Strigoi didn't need to worry about sun when the trees are this thick… there could be a whole pack in there and I wouldn't even know until they caught me. I took a moment to inhale deeply—I didn't feel nauseas, so I went into the trees. I walked for a while, probably about half a mile around the perimeter of the cave.

As I started to walk back, the nausea hit me hard—there were five Strigoi somewhere nearby. I pulled out my stake.

Then, something came at me from my left side, trying to catch me by surprise. I crouched down, and it tripped over me. I dove on top of it and staked him through the back.

Another launched itself at me, smacking me on the side of my head. I rolled over and got to my feet. We circled each other, each looking for an opportunity to attack the other.

"So, you're Rose, I assume," I knew he was just trying to distract me, and it almost worked.

"How do you know my name?"

"Dimitri speaks of you often." He chuckled when I winced. "So it is you. He'll be so excited to see you, and I can see why—you're pretty enough to eat." He laughed at his joke. I lunged at him, and the stake scraped across his side; he'd turned, trying to avoid my attack. He screamed loudly.

He smacked me, his fingernails digging into the side of my face. I yelped and jumped backwards. He smirked. "You're a feisty one." He dove for my legs, wrapping his arms around my knees and taking us both to the ground.

"It's a shame that I have to kill you now, he wanted you all to himself." I kicked him viciously, managing to free my legs long enough to roll backwards and onto my feet again. This one wasn't going to be as easy as the others. I could tell that he had been a dhampir and a guardian before he was changed. And a good one, judging by all his _molnija_ marks. We stated at each other, neither of us moving.

"Wait, I know you…" I said as I peered at his face. It finally dawned on me who he was. "You're Dimitri's mentor. Davis." It surprised me enough for him to smack me into a tree, and my vision blurred for a moment. I moaned in pain. It seemed as if I was going to have to visit Adrian again.

"Correct, little girl. Now, let's stop this game. We don't want to keep him waiting, now do we?" he grabbed my arms and pinned them behind my back, but I had no intention of letting him drag me to Dimitri. He may have been a Strigoi, but he was still a guy. My foot came up and nailed him between the legs as hard as I could manage. He released my arms and fell backwards. I straddled him and staked him before he could even recover. But the nausea didn't leave-there were still three more Strigoi to finish.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," I sang, searching the trees for the monsters. "I know you're there—I can sense you," I admitted. All three of them came out at the same time, thinking that their numbers and age would intimidate me. Wrong. I was much too angry, and much too anxious to finish with them and find Dimitri so I could get home to Lissa.

"Finally, a challenge," I said. I twirled my bloody stake in my hand. "Who's first, boys?" I had the advantage because they all dove at me at once, bumping into each other. I leaped over them and staked one, the other two growled ferociously and picked themselves up. I swear Strigoi are disgusting. I mean, they smell horrible, and one whiff of human, dhampir, or Moroi, and they're drooling all over themselves! Seriously. And the one on the left must have had some freaky spit-gland problems, because he was soaked. Ew.

*******I pulled my hand up to my face and bent one finger, beckoning them. I smiled. The first was harder to take down, but once I tackled him, I killed him quickly. "Just you and me now," I said, repeating myself from the first time I was attacked in Siberia. I ran at him, faking left then swerving to the right. He didn't fall for it. He caught me by the shoulder with one arm and threw me to the ground and tackled me, trapping my hands between us. I maneuvered it enough to where I could shove it up and through something, but I didn't realize that it was his groin until I pulled the stake out and he started rolling on the ground, curled up into a ball. I laughed evilly; it was possibly the funniest thing I had ever seen. By the way he screamed, you'd think that I was peeling his skin off with the stake. *******

"Not so tough now, are you?" I staked him and tore off five more scraps of cloth for my collection. I'd killed eight Strigoi since coming to Siberia.

I turned, surveying the woods once more, it was dark now, but my super-charged dhampire eyes let me see everything clearly. "Guess it's time to go back to that cave." I made my way back to the opening in the ground and pulled out the lighter. _I may need it if he's really in there._

I dropped my backpack and started to creep down the slope. I made no noise. The cave went along like this for about eighty steps, and then forked into two separate tunnels. I paused. If I went into one and he was there, I would probably die. If I went into one and he wasn't there, but he heard me, he could sneak in behind me and kill me or turn me before I even knew what was happening. Either way, I was probably going to die.

I went left.

Continuing down the tunnel, I paused when I felt something. It was almost like wind, but I knew that there was not way that there was a breeze in this underground cave. Almost like something running towards me, very, very fast.

Something hit the side of my face, grinding the side with the claw marks from before into the cave wall. My vision blurred again, but I rolled to my right, away from whatever had attacked me.

"Looking for me?" a sickly sweet voice said. It had a slight Russian accent. "Guess who?" he laughed.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Special Thanks to Dad for helping me out a bit! (and, Dad, it's vampires not, badminton empires!) …He got a little confused. Haha **

"Guess who?" he said.

"No…" I whispered. It was so much wore than I had imagined. He was covered in blood—it was in his hair, on his clothes, and it was dried in rivulets coming from his mouth. He had horrible, ugly fangs that I could see even in the darkness. They shone brilliantly white. He had on the same guardian's outfit that he had worn when I last saw him. And, lastly, I looked into his eyes: they were the same dark, chocolate brown, but they were scarlet around the edges, and there were bags under them.

But I could see so many emotions flooding through those gorgeous eyes. There were two sides of him now: the Strigoi side that wanted to kill me and suck my dry, and the human Dimitri, who loved me, hated for me to see him like this, and who didn't want to hurt me. The Strigoi half was winning. He laughed viciously.

"Surely you're not surprised to see me? You were looking for me, correct?" I picked myself up off of the ground and backed away from him, shifting into a defensive position. I nodded tightly.

"Yes, but before I destroy you, the real Dimitri should know that I love him, and that I hate that I have to do this." I hardened my heart and hoped that the small human portion that was left could understand.

His hand clutched his chest over his heart, "I'm hurt! The _real_ Dimitri? This is me, _Roza_," he mocked me, "the _real_ me! You were right, that day you kissed me in the gym—I was always holding back, always guarding my feelings!" He threw his arms wide and tilted his head back, taking in a deep breath. "And now I don't have to!" he yelled. I cringed back towards the wall. This certainly wasn't what I had expected. Abruptly, he calmed down. "Roza," he said again, still mocking me, "Were you looking for me?" I nodded, never taking my eyes off of his heart. This _would not_ turn out like my dream. "Well, then you listened to nothing that I taught you." I staggered back as if he'd hit me. It was a cruel insult, but I let my hurt dissolve into anger. I straightened up, tensing, ready to pounce. He laughed.

He was teasing me, trying to get me to say something stupid. It was not going to work.

"Just shut the h*** up fand fight me!" I screamed at him. He actually looked a bit astonished. "It doesn't matter what you say to me! You are not _my_ Dimitri! You're a fake, a cheap imitation of the man that I love! And now I'm going to kill you." Something flickered in his eyes. Hope?

Then it was gone. "Oh? So sure that you can beat me? You could barely best me when I was human. I may have taught you everything that you know, but I didn't teach you everything that I know." He laughed again, seeming to take great pleasure from my uncertainty. I stopped, knowing that he could be telling the truth. He took the crack in my defenses to kick me hard in the stomach; I hear something crack loudly, and I yelped, but I managed to grab his leg and twist it around before he could withdraw it. I used it to shove him away and into the wall. I smirked.

He righted himself, "Same old Rose. And you're wrong, about two things actually: I am Dimitri. All of him. And, _I never loved you_." He spoke excruciatingly slowly, driving the words home.

"No. You're lying," I whispered, refusing to believe him.

"You were just a toy to me—a child—I never took you seriously. You were just something to keep me busy until I found someone better."

"You're lying!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "You are lying, and I hate you! You will die. Now. Right now, you son of a b****f." I jumped on him, smacking him in the face, grabbing him by the hair and slamming his head into the wall. My own fury surprised me. You know those stories where a car crashes and there's a kid trapped inside, and the mother gets a burst of super-powers and is able to roll the car over with one hand and save the kid? I was having one of those moments. He smashed my hand between his head and the wall, but I ignored it and grabbed him by the shoulders and hurled him across the seven foot wide cave and into the other wall.

I looked down at my hand; it was bloody and broken, but I didn't care. I had forgotten about him for a second, though. Big mistake. He had crawled back to me, grabbing my ankle and pulling my feet out from under me. I was standing very close to the wall, so when he pulled me down, me head smacked into the wall. My vision swam; I could feel the blood running down the back of my neck. _No_. I told myself. _He has to die._

He was on top of my now, straddling me. He leaned over me, pressing my wrists into the ground. My shattered hand was screaming in pain; I moaned. "Rose," he said. I looked at him. I could see the two parts of him fighting for control and I wondered in passing which one would win. I was going to die, I was sure. Either that, or wake up Strigoi. I'd rather die. I struggled, trying to get free, but he was so, so strong.

Finally, the Strigoi side won. He lowered his head down to my neck, his teeth grazing my skin. I closed my eyes tight.

Then he bit me.

It was not like a Moroi bite—it hurt so bad—I screamed.

But, in his feeding frenzy, he had released my wrists. My hands came up and grabbed both sides of his face, pulling him away from my neck and pushing him off with my feet. He took a big chunk of my neck with him. He growled and rolled back onto his feet.

"Nice try, Comrade," I said. He flinched like I had slapped him. I pulled out my stake.

"You really think you can kill me, Roza?" he asked. He sounded pleading and serious, but I could see in his eyes that he was toying with me. "After that night in the cabin? How we loved each other? And you still love me—I know you do. Join me, Roza. We can be together. No one can stop us. No guardians would be a match for us together. There's no one to stand in our way. We c1an love each other without me losing my job or you getting expelled from school," he really was begging now; it confused me. He crossed the space between us, putting his hands on my shoulders and staring lovingly into my eyes.

"Dimitri," I whispered, lowering my head. "Kiss me," I said suddenly. "kiss me—I need to know that you still love me." He smiled and pressed hi lips to mine, kissing me passionately, almost violently.

I almost lost myself in that kiss, but then I remembered my goal. I didn't have a clean shot to his heart, but I could get close. My right hand cam up, shoving my stake up and into his chest. He stopped the kiss and screamed, falling backwards. I looked down at him, and he looked up and saw me. His eyes were not red anymore, but all I could think about was that I had stabbed the man I loved, and he was going to die. His humanity was back, or at least the Strigoi part had given us some alone time.

I knelt beside him, and he smiled. "That's my Rose," his eyelids fluttered, but I wasn't ready for him to die.

"No, no, no," I sobbed, "Don't leave me yet!" He looked at me, making a visible effort to stay conscious.

"Okay, Roza. I'll try."

"Tell me what you need me to do…" I begged.

"Ah, Roza. I love you. I was lying before. I do love you, with all of my heart and soul, I love you." His breathing hitched, and I stroked his face with my fingertips. With my other hand, I brushed the blood-caked hair back from his forehead.

"I love you, too…" I could barely speak from crying so hard, "I don't know how I can live without you… _I don't want to live without you_."

"No, Roza! You have to. You have to take care of Lissa. You'll move on. I need you to move on, for me." I shook my head.

"I don't know if I can."

"Please, _doushka_," he said, the Russian making his words that much more beautiful. "You need to heal," he said the same words that Adrian had said to me before, "Let Adrian heal you," I started to protest, but he stopped me. "He loves you—almost as much as I do." I looked down, seeing that I had gotten the side of his heart. He would die within minutes. "Roza, there are more Strigoi in this cave. At least one hundred. You have to get back to Lissa; you have to give Adrian a chance. For me, please. Promise me, Roza." We were both crying now.

"Yes, Dimitri. Anything, anything for you…" I sobbed, my tears washing some of the blood from his clothes and chest.

"Roza," he breathed, he tried to lean towards me, but couldn't, so I leaned in. He kissed me softly, lovingly. I kissed him back, tasting both of our tears.

"I love you Dimitri… I love you more than Lissa, more than I could ever love anyone else. More than my own life."

"I love you too, Roza, doushka, my soul."

And then he was gone.

**Sorry guys, but I had to do it, or it wouldn't be a story! However, THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY!!! So please don't stop reading….3**


	7. Author's Note! read, please!

**Author's Note**

**Okay guys, as much as I love writing and posting and seeing my little chart thing show all the different people that are reading my story, it's not as much fun when NO ONE IS REVIEWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

***dead silence***

**Thanks to the 8 reviews I had before this though! I love you guys! 3 3 But I need some feedback before I write any more! Here are some questions to answer:**

**Good/Bad?**

**What parts did you like?**

**What parts did you not like?**

**Suggestions? (ex. I think Rose should behead a Strigoi every now and then.)**

**Questions for me!**

**Here are some questions that I needed to answer:**

**doushka is 'my soul' in Russian, sort of like saying 'my love'**

**yes, I've read Breaking Dawn! And I loved it! I actually didn't think about the "more than my own life" thing as being like that until you said something. I guess my subconscious is telling me that I'm still not over Twilight! Haha… **

**I think that's all of them so far, but if I forgot you, I'll answer at the beginning of the next chapter… unless there isn't a next chapter because I got no reviews!!! **

**SO REVIEW PLEASE!!**

**Thanks! **

**~*~Meg~*~**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I stared at his body, not believing that he was dead. That he _could be_ dead. I heard a noise, a horrible, broken, grating sound, and it took me a while to realize that it was me. I was crying so hard that I couldn't see. _He's really gone…_ I stayed there for a while, still stroking his hair and face, and just crying. Crying because he was dead, crying because I had lost the thing that had mattered the most to me, crying because I couldn't believe that life could be so unfair, and, lastly, crying because I couldn't live—couldn't breath—without him. As if to prove the point, my breathing hitched. I felt like a Strigoi was sitting on my chest. My tears ran down, washing the blood from his face and hair.

But then I remembered what he had said, _Roza, there are more Strigoi in this cave. At least one hundred,_ and I thought of the perfect way to avenge my Dimitri. I would kill them, all of them. Every. Last. One. I gritted my teeth. That would show them to mess with Rose Hathaway. I had a special torture planned for the blond who had threatened Lissa, then turned my poor Dimitri. I was going to stake him where it hurt, then write my name on his face with my stake, next I would stake him near his heart, just enough so that he won't die until I finished with him, then I'd slowly saw his head off with it. It was a bit gruesome, but fitting, seeing as how he had taken away my love, my happiness.

I stood up, leaving him lying on the cave floor. I would come back to give him a decent burial, once I had killed the others. I picked up my stake, gripping it hard and turning back towards the other tunnel. I rounded the corner and kept walking. I listened for any noise, hearing everything: the dripping of the wet cave walls, the occasional rat scurrying past, bats readjusting their wings near the ceiling. Then I heard them, and sensed them. Six Strigoi. They were arguing about something; four of them had their backs turned. They were so into their argument that they didn't hear me sneak up behind them. I had stabbed the first three before the others even knew what was going on. The three that were left backed up, regrouping to attack me. Two were girls, both with blonde hair; they were Moroi before they had been turned. The one in the middle was a guy with solid black hair and dark facial features. He had been a dhampir, and he would probably be the hardest to kill. The girls jumped at me, the guy staying back and circling us. I blocked one of them, sending her crashing into the wall; the other hit me head on. We hit the floor hard, with her on top of me. I head butted her, confusing her long enough to roll over and stake her. Then I remembered the lighter that just happened to be in my pocket. I pulled it out, flicked it on, and watched the fear cover the other two's faces. I laughed.

I lunged at the girl, stabbing her in the side with the stake, and lighting her shirt while she was distracted. She screamed, then began to "stop, drop, and roll", which I thought was extremely funny. The guy dove at me, but I stepped out of the way. He grazed the lighter as he flew past me and into the wall, so now he was also in flames. I staked both of them to make sure they were dead, and then took six scraps of cloth from one that wasn't burning, putting it in one of my pants pockets. I continued down the passageway.

Most of the fights that I got into on my way towards whatever was the end of this cave went just like that. I would kill them all, and then take a piece of material from each of them. I was in a daze now: nothing was a threat, nothing was real. It was like a dream. I kept killing, and they kept coming. I had killed over 70 by now, but more and more came. Then I came to a large cavern filled with tons of Strigoi. Dimitri had been wrong, there were at least 400 in this cave, maybe closer to 500. And all that were left had gathered in this cavern, by the looks of it. They all turned on me at once, just looking at me. I didn't take my eyes off of them, but I saw something lying on the ground off to the side; it was a dead guardian, young-looking. But the thing that had caught my eye was the sword in his limp hands. It shone silver like a stake, so I knew that it was protected with the same magic, and most importantly, it would stake or behead a Strigoi. I stepped over and grabbed it, still looking at the Strigoi. I threw the lighter and my stake over my shoulder and raised my right hand, pointing the sword at the closest Strigoi.

Then we fought. All of them, against me. Three ran at me, so I directed my sword so that one ran onto it, and then I snapped it around to behead the other two. I was definitely loving this sword. After that more came, and I got angrier and angrier. How could they change him? How could they destroy me like that? This was my revenge, and I was enjoying it thoroughly. I relished each scream they made as my sword either staked or beheaded each one. My rage had overwhelmed me; I vaguely thought about how weird it was that I was having an out-of-body experience now. I could see myself killing them, and the creepy smile on my face as I did it. I smiled even bigger; I really was a bada** now.

Then it was over. Only one was left: the blond.

"We meet again, beautiful Rose," he chuckled. As if he could beat me. He was clean, especially for a Strigoi. I looked down: I was caked in blood a mixture of mine and theirs. My hair, originally pulled back into a tight ponytail, had fallen about halfway, most of it cascading into my face now. I had countless injuries, and every part of me hurt. I looked like a mess, but he would look much worse when I was through with him.

"You a**h***! First you threaten to go after Lissa, then you killed Dimitri!" My vision blurred and turned red around the edges.

"No, no, no," he laughed, "my dear, I gave him life as an immortal. _You_ killed him."

"I had no choice! He didn't want that! He wanted to be a dhampir, not a monster! He would have killed himself if he could have! But now I have to kill you!" I brandished my sword at him.

"Very well, as you wish," He jumped on me, knocking my sword out of my hand. We rolled several feet, but he ended up on top of me, choking me. I gasped for air, black spots dancing in my eyes. The sword was by my right foot, though. So I slid it between my feet and tried to kick it towards my hands. It worked, and I grabbed it, smacking him over the head with it. We rolled again, but this time I landed on top. I pressed the blade of the sword across his neck, trapping his head down. I yelped as my broken left hand throbbed. He whimpered, the magic in the blade forming welts on his skin. I held the sword there with one hand, my knees trapping his wrists, and with my other hand, I pulled out my extra stake. "This is what you get for killing him!" I screamed at him as I wrote "Rose" across his forehead with the stake. He shrieked as it dug into his skin, and I laughed. "Not so pretty now, are you? Lucky for you, I hate my real name."

He continued screaming. My ears rang and I longed to get this over with so I could get back to Lissa…and Adrian. My concentration lapsed as I thought the last part, and he saw it. He flung me off of him and into the wall opposite, making my sword slip out of my hand. It skidded across the floor towards him, and I fell into a heap on the floor. I drug myself off of the ground, everything hurting so badly that I probably would have passed out; but my anger kept me conscious.

He glared at me, my name bleeding profusely from his forehead. My back was braced against the wall, it was the only thing keeping me from falling. My arms were stretched out to my side at 45 degree angles to help with my balance. Then some strange emotion flickered across his face; he lunged for the sword. As soon as his hand touched the hilt, it started smoking as it burnt his skin, but he didn't hold on to it for long. He threw straight at my face. Lucky for me, he had bad aim. But it did spear my right forearm to the wall. I screamed shrilly; it hurt like heck, so much worse than everything else. But he was closing in, so I had to do something. I pulled the sword out with my left hand, not an easy task since it hurt so badly and because every bone in my left hand was shattered. Then I flung it right back at him. It struck him high in the chest—his heart. Finally, he was dead. He couldn't hurt me anymore, or Lissa, or anyone that I loved. I sighed with relief.

I looked around at the carnage that I had caused in the gigantic room. In truth, it would have been a very beautiful place if there hadn't been blood smeared all over the walls from the Strigoi massacre that had just happened. I tore off a square of cloth from each of the Strigoi—this alone took a good 45 minutes. I silently marveled at my success in killing that many. Either they were weak, or I was the most awesome guardian ever. I liked to think that it was the last one. I decided not to burn them. Let the smell attract more Strigoi, let them see what would happen when you messed with me. I picked up my lighter, the sword, and the stakes, putting the stakes back into my boot and jacket. Then I shoved the sword through my belt loop, making a weird temporary holder thing.

I took the lighter to the largest wall then, burning my name slowly onto the cave wall. I might as well take the opportunity to scare the crap out of anyone who saw this, if they weren't already heading for the hills. I stood back and admired my work. "Rose Hathaway" was burned menacingly into the huge wall. I turned bitterly, making my way all the way back to the cave entrance. It was almost morning now.

I started to pick up my backpack when pain in my hand made me collapse to the ground, whimpering. I guess I'd better check my injuries. It was so hard to stay awake; I had lost so much blood—at least twenty bite marks laced up and down my arms, about 15 on my legs, and a few on my waist and shoulders. So, basically, if I survived the blood loss, I was going to have some awesome battle scars. I looked myself over. I had at least three broken ribs, bruises and cuts all over me, a fractured or sprained wrist, a completely broken hand, something was wrong with my right knee—it wouldn't straighten completely, I had a huge chunk missing out of my neck, the left side of my face was bruised badly, the right side had claw marks from my eye to my jaw-line, and my right forearm had been shish-kabobbed by a three-inch wide sword. Ouch. I was also about 90% sure that I had a concussion, and probably some internal bleeding. I didn't know much about it, but I was sure that it couldn't be very good. I stashed the cloths in my backpack and pulled out the torn shirt that I had used as a bandage before.

I tore it into even smaller strips and wrapped up the cuts that were still bleeding: my arm, neck, and hands, mostly. I was all out of alcohol or any anything else that I could have used to clean my cuts. _I need to get back to Lissa, and quickly._ As if to prove the point, I was snapped into her head, the first time since I had left a week and a half ago.

_I was running up the steps to the dorm room. I slammed the door and locked it. I ran into the bathroom and sunk to the bright white tile floor next to the sink and mirror. I was sobbing, tears ruining my make-up. I was really upset and depressed, and I knew that I shouldn't be alone, but I was just so angry and sad! How could she do this to me? How could she go and die, leaving me here alone? "Rose is dead and it's all my fault. If I hadn't gotten so caught up in my own personal romance, maybe she would have told me about hers. Maybe thing wouldn't have gotten so serious between them if I had spent more time with her. Then maybe I could have convinced her to stay; then maybe she wouldn't be dead!" I cried even harder._

_Even Christian had cried when Mrs. Kirova told the school. A lot of people had cried. All except for Jesse. He had laughed, saying that we were all much better without her, that she wasn't as great as we all thought. Then I had run back here, to avoid hurting him or anyone else. And the guardians that had gone to Siberia to look for her hadn't been able to find her body. I could heal her, could bring her back. All they had found had been some blood and Strigoi remains. It was her blood, and they had said that any wound that had bled that much would have killed her. "How can I live without her? Who's going to help me through the depression? What if I go crazy like Mrs. Karp?" I whimpered, pulling a razor blade out of my purse. I slid it across my wrists repeatedly, by far the worst that I had ever cut myself before. But, as I did it, I felt all the depression leaking out—_

I snapped back into my body. "Lissa!" I screamed. I jumped up—too fast, I blacked out for a second as a wave of vertigo hit me. I had to get back, now. I was probably a 15 minute walk from the nearest town, but about a day and a half walk from the airport. I decided to risk the closest town, knowing that I could catch a bus and not have to worry about collapsing halfway there and getting eaten by a Strigoi. I started walking.

I only had to stop twice to rest, I was really starting to hurt now, and I didn't know if I could make it. I didn't want to talk to Adrian until I got back to the Academy—I wanted to explain in person, so I did not sleep on the bus ride or the 8-hour plane ride, either. No easy feat, considering I had lost a lot of blood and had a concussion.

I was completely and utterly exhausted. I didn't know if I could make it back to the school, but when I got off the plane, I hailed a taxi and convinced him to drive all the way from Missoula to about a quarter of a mile from the Academy. He let me out, making some grumpy comment about teenage vandalism. I rolled my eyes.

I walked the rest of the way to the Academy, dragging my feet and fighting unconsciousness. I made it to the gate, and a guardian stepped up to meet me. He was not one that I had seen before, so of course he didn't know me. But, I was covered in blood, and I was all bandaged up, so I'm pretty sure that I looked crazy. He radioed someone from the school, but he was far enough away that I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying. Then someone answered him. He looked me over grudgingly, then opened the gate and let me in. I limped in. I only got about three feet down the path to the school before someone yelled, "Rose!" from not that far in front of me. It was Adrian, looking very sober. "Rose!" he yelled again, but I didn't hear what he said after that because I blacked out—the pain was too much for me—but I felt him catch me in his arms before I hit the ground.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Hey! So thanks so-o-o much for my awesome reviews! I'm loving the feedback! 3 And extra thanks to all the suggestions that I got! Ok, so here are some answers to your questions:**

**1. In Chapter 4 (I think) Rose thinks about something feeling sort of off after she wakes up from her first Strigoi killing in Siberia. I haven't referred to it yet, but Dimitri actually may have visited her that night, but he may not have… ******** *mischievous grin* we'll see…**

**2. I sort of assumed that being a guardian in training would imply that they must take some sort of first aid classes, so that's how Rose knows how to bandage stuff like broken ribs! ******

**3. Yes, this is a RosexAdrian fanfic 3**

**4. Something good is going to happen! Don't give up on me yet! But it may get worse before it gets any better…**

**5. Yeah, I know Lissa sounded a bit selfish in the last chapter, but that's the way I've pictured her. Think about it, she refused to even try to help Dimitri in the end of Shadow Kiss, and she never realizes when there's something up with Rose. Part of it is because the bond is one-way, but I think that a lot of it is just because she's used to being treated like a princess.**

**HELP! I am running out of creative ways to kill Strigoi (and for Rose to get hurt)! The name carving on the blonde's head was all I could come up with! (I got the idea from Zorro!) So, if you have any suggestions, please put them in your reviews! **

**I think that's it! Thanks again so much for being so sweet and commenting on my story!! 3 BUT, I still want tons and tons of reviews! And, If you don't know how, there is a little green button on the bottom of this page above the 'next chapter' button, PRESS THE BUTTON!!! **

**Thanks! **

**~Meg~**

I felt Adrian catch me before I was able to hit the ground. He started jogging towards the school, trying not to shake me too much. He was whispering, asking me a question, but I couldn't make sense of what he was saying. I was conscious, but just barely. He kept whispering frantically, trying to keep me awake. "Rose, what happened?" he asked. I couldn't answer, I just cried. I tried to get my mouth to move, but I couldn't seem to find it. He saw this and tried a different question, "Rose, did you kill him?" I nodded, shaking painfully with wracking sobs. We were almost to the infirmary by now. He picked up the pace, still trying not to jostle me. "Oh, little dhampir," he sighed, "I'm so sorry." I looked up at him, and one tear made its way down his cheek. He really cared, and knowing that broke me down even further. I leaned my head into his shoulder and cried.

When I felt a needle pierce the inside of my arm, I knew we had gotten to the hospital. I slept.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I woke up in a hospital bed, all bandaged and drugged. Adrian was sitting in a chair pulled up to my bed. He was asleep with his head in his hands. He looked so peaceful, and I didn't want to wake him. But, he must have felt me move or something, because his head popped up. He looked around the room first, to see what had woken him up; he didn't think that I would be awake yet. Then he turned and saw that my eyes were open.

"Rose!" he leaned forward, putting a hand on the side of my face. I leaned into it; his hand was cold, and it felt good against my skin. "Hold on," he said. He dashed out the door and down the hall, probably to get Dr. Olendzki. That was when the pain hit me.

I screamed and, within seconds, Adrian was by my side, holding me down and frantically trying to find out what was wrong. I guess the morphine had worn off. My back arched. I kept screaming. Tears were soaking the hospital gown I had been put in. It hurt so badly, everything did; my left hand was the worst of it. I didn't think I could last much longer without fainting. Adrian was rushing through the door with now. I gritted my teeth and tried to stop screaming.

"Rose, you have to tell us what is hurting you so badly," she pleaded with me.

"My hand…everything," I whimpered through my teeth. I felt a weird pull on the bond, and I realized that Lissa was out in the hallway. "Lissa!" I screamed shrilly.

I heard a gasp, and then I saw her face peer around the doorframe. She was paler than usual, and wearing a hospital gown with thick bandages around her wrists. "Rose…" she whispered, "No. No! You're dead! They told us all that you were dead!" she screamed.

"Lissa, she's alive, but she won't be for long unless you help me heal her!" Adrian begged her. I screamed again, still thrashing around involuntarily. He put his hand on the side of my face and looked me in the eyes. I felt my heart flip, then I could feel him healing me, but he couldn't do it by himself. My eyes were locked on his—I couldn't make them move—and his gaze was so powerful. His brow furrowed in concentration and sweat stood out on his forehead. Lissa hesitated for a moment, and then she rushed to my side, copying him. It took them a long time, but, gradually, the pain dulled, then stopped.

He sagged into the chair, leaning his head on my stomach. I put my hand on his hair, stroking it. It felt strange, but not bad or uncomfortable; I guessed that was a start. Lissa stepped back, looking at me with a mixture of awe and disbelief. She looked like she had so much to say to me, but just didn't have any idea of where to start. "How?" she whispered. So, I told them the whole story, stopping to pull myself back together when I recounted how Dimitri had died—how I had killed him. Adrian leaned back in his chair, none of his usual sarcasm showing on his face. That was when I noticed that he was sober, completely. And his natural smell of clove cigarettes was completely gone. I wondered if he had stopped for me.

When I finished, Lissa pulled another chair to my other side and took my hand in both of hers. She was crying now. "Rose, I'm so glad that you're not dead—I'm so glad that you came back." She looked at me closer then, studying me. All of my wounds were healed, but when I looked down, all of the bite marks still glistened on my much-paler-than-usual skin. I gasped—they were beautiful. I looked like a warrior. This thought made me smile. Lissa smiled too. "I can't heal bite marks. Strange, I know." Then I reached up and felt of my face. It was perfectly smooth, no sign of claw marks. My neck had one bite mark, from when Dimitri had bitten me. We sat there for about 5 minutes, none of us saying a word, just enjoying being together in the same room again. Then Dr. Olendzki came in, telling me and Lissa that we could leave if we wanted to, and that I had to go straight to Kirova's office. We changed, and then the three of us headed to see Kirova. We had gotten about 50 feet from the infirmary when Jesse and Ralf came into view. They were laughing, but when they saw me, they stopped dead in their tracks. I gave them one of my famous Rose Hathaway smirks. Jesse regained his composure first.

He walked up to me, leaning threateningly into my face. I jumped, surprised, but I didn't back away. I had faced much worse than him. Lissa and Adrian hadn't noticed, they were still walking towards the office. "What the heck do you want, Jesse?" I spat at him through my teeth. I hated him for what he and his idiot friend Ralf had spread around about me. I hated Jesse even more because of what he had done to Lissa about a month ago. I glared at him.

"What's the matter Rose? Not happy to see me?" he pouted, and Ralf laughed. Lissa and Adrian stopped and turned around to see what was keeping me. They had been so into the conversation they were having that neither of them noticed Jesse or Ralf until I had stopped. They were about 8 feet away from where Jesse and I were having our little confrontation. I laughed menacingly.

"Scared of you? I've seen elementary school novices that were tougher than you, Jesse." I mocked him; his fists clenched and his eyes narrowed. I put up a hand, about to push him away and keep walking, when he lashed out and caught my wrist, pulling me even closer to him. It surprised me; I had no idea that he was that fast.

"We'll see about that," he growled. "Funny, I don't remember you being this snarky last year when you were making out with me in that dusty old lounge. You seemed pretty into me, then." He yanked my wrist up and placed it around his neck, putting his other arm around the small of my back, all in one swift motion. He moved his mouth in close to mine, our lips almost brushing, and said, "Maybe we could try it again." Then he kissed me.

At first I didn't know what to do, but then my brain caught up with the situation. My free hand came up and smacked him across the face, hard. Then my knee came up, nailing him right between the legs. He started to fold, but I used my hand that was already around his neck to grab a fistful of his hair and yank it back, holding him up. He grunted. "Try that again, and no amount of healing can save you," I said quietly and threatening enough to scare a guardian. I pushed him away then, and he landed on his a** on the ground. I turned and walked towards Kirova's office. I was seething—my fists were clenched and my shoulders were tense, my mouth was drawn into a tight line. Combined with my awesome scars, I was sure that I looked pretty bada**. Then Lissa and Adrian caught up with me, each of them grabbing one of my arms and pulling me to a stop. I jerked away and started to walk again, but they both jumped in front of me. Adrian crossed his arms, making the muscles there flex. I was distracted for a moment then. He was actually really attractive, sexy even. I couldn't believe that I hadn't noticed before. He was also really muscular, especially for a Moroi. He looked almost as buff as Dimitri had—that thought sent my mind to a screeching halt, and I remembered how mad I was. Adrian hadn't noticed.

"Rose, calm down," Lissa begged. I could feel her concern through the bond. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. She smiled. "Same old Rose."

"No, not the same…" I trailed off. Now I felt sympathy.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that first thing, now that you're back," Adrian said, "but you should know everything that he was saying about you." A bit of his usual sarcasm was coming through now. I raised my eyebrows.

"I know about him telling everyone that it was a good thing that I was dead," I supplied.

"Yeah, that's part of it. But he started spreading rumors again, too—about you and Belikov. How you had conned him into having sex with you, and that you had gotten tired of him. He told everyone that you had made a bet with the Strigoi, that you would give them Moroi blood if they killed him for you." I was completely stunned. This was not at all what I had expected to come home to. My mouth opened, then shut, then opened again, but nothing came out. "But we told everyone that it was all lies, that you did nothing of the sort," he said, but that didn't make it any better.

"How _dare_ he say things like that about us! Telling everyone that I'm a blood whore was one thing, but this is definitely across the line! At least then he had some kind of motive! Mia was sleeping with him so that he would do her dirty work, but to scar _his_ memory like that! _I'll kill him_!" I yelled the last part and tried to turn around to go back after him, but Adrian grabbed my arm again and spun me around. I may have been stronger than him, but he definitely had height and weight on me. I growled at him, and he looked surprised. But he didn't let me go.

Then I realized how crazy I sounded. I thought about how Lissa had seemed much better now that I was back, and I knew that it was because I was sucking the darkness from her. Now that darkness was in me, and it was making me crazy, making me want to pick a fight with a Moroi, which would get me absolutely nowhere and would probably make me being Lissa's guardian impossible. I took another deep breath and opened my eyes. Adrian was still holding me back, and both of them were looking at me with wary expressions. "It's okay," I said. "I'm okay; I'm not going to go kill him. Not now, at least." They smiled.

We kept walking to Kirova's office, and Adrian awkwardly removed his hand from my arm. When we finally got there, I turned to them. "You guys don't have to come in. She's probably not going to let me come back and graduate, and there's nothing that you two can do about it." I smiled half-heartedly, hoping that they would believe me and not come in with me. I didn't want them to witness my shame when I had to tell her about me and Dimitri. "Nice try, Rose," Lissa smiled at me. I rolled my eyes. It's not that I was ashamed of being with Dimitri—I wasn't—but I knew that Kirova wouldn't understand that what we had had was not just a schoolgirl crush, it was love.

I knocked on the door, and heard a muffled "come in." I hesitated, but Lissa pushed the door open before I could change my mind. "Headmistress Kirova?" I said as I walked into the room to stand in front of her paper-covered desk. She was writing something, but when she heard my voice, her head shot up. The look that came over her face was so uncharacteristic of her usual self that I almost laughed. Alberta was there also, standing just behind the desk.

"Rose Hathaway?" Kirova asked. I guess that I looked a bit different, I mean, I certainly felt older and more serious. I was wearing black loose cargo pants and a black tank top with running shoes, and my awesome scars were shining obviously in the fluorescent lighting; I had lost about 15 pounds in the two weeks that I was gone, and I was a lot paler than when I had left. She stood up, regaining her composure. "Have you come back here, expecting me to let you graduate after you dropped out of this school to go who knows where? You know that I can't do that." She almost sounded sorry.

"No, Headmistress. I dropped out for reasons that I couldn't tell you at the time, but I did what I needed to do. And now I'm back, and it's your choice if you want to let me graduate or if you want to send me away. But at least let me tell you my story from the beginning." I said in a respectful, guardian tone.

She sighed, "All right, Rose. All of you sit down." She pointed to three seats close to the desk, and we sat. I started from when Lissa and I came back to the Academy, how Dimitri and I had always had a thing for each other but had tried to hide it, and succeeded, until Victor's lust charm made us show what we had been hiding since the beginning. Then I told her everything else, even about that time in the cabin, how he had saved me from myself, and how he had found a way for us to be together. Then about the rescue mission, when he had been taken, and how I had asked Mason the three questions that had shattered my world. And, lastly, how I had killed him and all of the others.

"So, let me get this straight, Rose. You fell in love with your combat instructor, you slept with him in the cabin in the school woods the day before he was captured and turned Strigoi. You found out that he was Strigoi from the ghost of your dead friend, and then you dropped out of school on your birthday, borrowing a large amount of money from Adrian Ivashkov, to go to Siberia to kill him. Then, you killed an uncountable number of Strigoi, including him, and came back here to graduate?" Alberta stared at me like I had grown horns.

"Yes. Well, they weren't exactly uncountable." I pointed to my backpack, which had been thrown on the floor. "I tore a piece of cloth off of each of them after I killed them and shoved them in my backpack—I wanted to have proof when I came back; I knew that no one would believe me if I didn't." I lifted the back up and unzipped it. Every compartment was stuffed full of cloth. I moved all of the papers on the desk to one side and emptied the backpack. Next, I emptied all of the pockets in my cargo pants and the jacket that I had worn in Siberia. All of them were full, too. All four of them gaped at the huge stack, not believing how many pieces were there. Then Alberta stepped forward, sifting through the stack. She counted the stack twice, placing them in neat stacks after they had been counted. She looked up at me with new-found respect.

"Umm… So?" I asked. I didn't really care how many there were, but apparently I had killed way more than I had thought.

"Rose… did you do this for all of them?" she asked.

"Yes. All except for Dimitri…" I trailed off.

"567."

"Sorry?"

"There are 567 scraps of cloth here," she said quietly. "Tell me about the battle in the cave."

"Well," I started, "I don't really remember much of it, I was so angry. I was really just looking for the blond that had threatened Lissa and changed Dimitri. The others just got in the way," then I told her what I could remember, mostly the part when I found the blond one. She smirked when I mentioned carving my name into his forehead.

"Well I guess I had better schedule a ceremony so you can get all of those marks."

"What?" I had forgotten about the marks. I wondered vaguely where they were going to put them all.

"Wait." Kirova stood up again with a stern look on her face. "You can come back and graduate with your class on two conditions: you owe the students of this school an explanation. You have to tell them about you and Guardian Belikov, and how you earned your marks. I think the novices will enjoy the story." She smiled, like she thought that it was just so clever. "And," she continued, "Seeing as how you have killed more Strigoi than all of the guardians at this school combined, you will not be attending classes. You'll be teaching them."


	10. Author's Note: VOTE

Author's Note 2: Vote!

**Okay, so here's the deal. I have this awesome idea about splitting this story into two separate, but totally awesome stories. I mean, write another story that is exactly the same, up to the part where she stabs Dimitri. But, in this new story, Dimitri doesn't die. So, my question is: Would you read it? And any suggestions? **

**I don't mean that I'd quit writing this one, I would just write the two of them at the same time, so don't worry about that! **

**Thanks!**

**~Meg~**


	11. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**As you guys can probably tell, I'm not a huge Lissa fan, so this chapter may be a bit rough. I am going to write the other story though, so I should post that within the next few days, especially since the first four or five chapters are identical! Haha **

**Disclaimer: All of the characters (except for Cal and Brian) belong to Richelle Mead, not me. However, all the dialogue and events are from me—with tons of help from my *twin* Gabby! (Love you Gabs!)**

"Say what?"

"I said, you can only graduate on two conditions: you—"

I interrupted her, "No, I mean, I know what you said; I just don't believe that you would actually want me to teach here." Me? I mean, I had caused so much trouble in my years here.

"Well, yes, of course I would," like it was so obvious, "You've killed more Strigoi than anyone in our history. Other schools will be trying to snatch you away as soon as they hear of it. Although, I have no idea how I am going to explain this to your mother; we still don't know if she ever received our letter about you dropping out two weeks ago." I hadn't thought about that. "But," she continued, "You agree to the conditions?"

"Umm… yes, I agree. It's going to be hard to tell everyone about Dimitri and me, but I can do it. When do I start?" Lissa and Adrian still hadn't said anything, but they were both smiling like idiots. I glared at them.

"As soon as your _molnija_ ceremony is over." She smiled. "I'll have the students ready and waiting in the auditorium in four and a half hours. That should be long enough for you to get cleaned up, get your marks, and half a little extra time before your official welcome back to the Academy." She walked swiftly out of the room, and I stared after her. I had never seen her so excited about something. I turned back to the others. Lissa and Adrian were still grinning, but Alberta looked absolutely ecstatic.

"It's so good to have you back, Rose. Things have been so boring around here without you."

"Thanks, Alberta."

Then Adrian and Alberta ran off to do whatever they had to do, leaving me and Lissa alone for the first time since I had come back. We walked towards her dorm, were I could shower and get ready for the ceremony. I stopped abruptly about halfway there to turn and hug her. "I missed you so much, Lissa."

"I missed you, too, Rose." Her voice cracked. We laughed and pulled apart, still a few minutes from the dorm.

"I can't believe it's just been two weeks… that means that I've been "dead" for one week, right?" she nodded. "Well, this should surprise everyone. Especially all those _molnija_ marks I'll have; I seriously hadn't thought about it, but I have to admit, that's totally awesome!" She laughed again, looking extremely relieved and happy to have me back. She sighed happily. She gasped, and I looked questioningly at her.

"I just thought of the perfect thing for you to wear to show off your new marks!" she was jumping up and down now and running into the dorm. I smiled and followed, catching up to her easily. We raced up the steps to her room, slamming the door behind ourselves. She immediately started digging through her closet excitedly.

"Lissa, I doubt anything of yours is going to fit me…" I said. She turned to me, smiling and raising her eyebrows.

"Rose, you've lost at least 15 pounds since you left, and this is a little too big for me, anyway. Plus, I could never pull it off. You're going to look so hot!" She squealed. "You're a lot paler, too." She pulled out a gorgeous dress, shoving it at me and telling me to get showered and changed. I obeyed, taking a long time in the shower. I let the hot water run over me, washing the dried blood from my skin. My blood, his blood, their blood, it swirled into the bottom of the shower and leaked through the drain; I felt a burden lifting from my shoulders as the water sent steam rising up from my skin, turning it a pleasant shade of pink. As cliché as it was, this was the start of a new phase of my life.

I jumped out of the shower, drying off quickly and sliding on the dress. It was black silk with spaghetti straps, and floor-length. It clung beautifully to my curves, flaring out a bit around the knees, though my ribs showed a bit because I had lost weight. It was open in the back, from my shoulder blades to my lower back was exposed. I turned in the mirror, admiring it. I looked stunning; not one of the students would be able to take their eyes off of me, especially with all those marks. I came out of the bathroom, doing a little twirl for Lissa. She jumped up off of the bed, throwing the book she was reading into the covers.

"Rose, you look awesome!" she jumped up and down. She had changed into a light blue knee-length, short-sleeved dress that made her look like the princess she was. She handed me black stilettos with long ribbons that wrapped up my legs, crisscrossing. Lastly, she helped me wrap my long, dark hair into a curled twist at the back of my head. It was elegant, but not too formal. She tossed me a bottle of makeup, and I looked at her with confusion. "You're certainly too pale to use your usual makeup, so mine will be about right," she giggled. She stopped when she saw my face. "What's wrong?" I shifted my feet, embarrassed.

"I just sort of wish that my mom was here." I said. She smiled mischievously. "What?" I asked.

Then Alberta knocked on the door. She nodded her head respectfully at Lissa, and turned a huge smile on me. "You look striking, Rose." She smiled even bigger as another woman walked through the door.

"Mom?" tears came to my eyes.

"Rose!" she whispered. She walked over to me swiftly, hugging me; there were tears in her eyes, too. "I thought you were dead…" she started. "But we can talk after the ceremony." She smiled warmly, and I smiled back, happy that there was no bad blood between us. "Let's go."

We walked to the ceremony. When we got there, most who were allowed to attend were already seated. Most of them were guardians, but Lissa, Adrian, and the Moroi teachers were allowed to come, too. Adrian's eyes widened when he saw me, and he gave me a small smile. I smiled back awkwardly. I sat on the stool; the guardian who was to draw my marks was stationed behind me. He grinned at me, "568, right?" I nodded modestly, and he shook his head.

"Wait a second, where are you going to put them?" I asked.

He faltered. "Well, no one has ever had this many before, so we're breaking new ground here… hmm. I suppose we'll get as many as possible on your neck, probably going to the edge of your jaw, just under your ears, then we'll just start going down your back." He smiled charmingly and ran one finger down my spine. I shuddered uncomfortably. I had a feeling that he was enjoying this way more than a guardian on duty was supposed to. I turned back around, and he began. It stung a bit, but I was used to it after he did the first few. Hours later, it was over, and everyone came around to shake my hand or hug me and congratulate me. Lissa, Adrian, and my mother stayed by my side until everyone left. I didn't realize that I had been crying until Lissa hugged me, whispering into my ear.

Then she took me to the bathroom to fix my makeup and let me see what the marks looked like. I turned and looked over my shoulder into the mirror. It was awesome. The guardian who drew them may have made me uncomfortable, but he had done a very good job. The marks went from the sides and back of my neck to make a perfect V down my back, following closely the line of my dress. They throbbed, but I looked vicious.

Then we were on our way to the auditorium, where the student body was waiting for me. They had not been told that I was alive, so when I walked in with Lissa, Adrian, and my mother, everyone in the room turned to gape at me. That was when the headache started. It didn't bother me that much at first, but then I wondered if it was a normal headache or a ghost-headache. I looked around and saw no ghosts, so I dismissed it as a normal stress-induced headache. I walked up to the podium and took a deep breath readying myself for the speech that would make me the subject of gossip for months to come.

**Sorry, I know that it's my worst chapter yet, but this is kind-of tough to write about for me. I should be better soon, though, so keep reading and reviewing. Please! **


	12. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Meanwhile…**

Alberta POV

I was in Rose's molnija ceremony, sitting next to the headmistress, who looked very pleased with herself. I was her guardian for the day. "Headmistress?" I asked. She knew what I wanted to know, but she still made me work for it.

"Yes, Alberta?" she actually called me by my first name; she must be in a very good mood.

"Why are you going to make Miss Hathaway tell the whole school about her romance with Guardian Belikov? You know what's going to happen. The whole school's going to turn upside-down. They're going to be calling her a blood whore for months. All this is going to do is to make her angry, and possibly endanger the students…" I trailed off. She smirked. _Definitely happy with herself._

"Why, I know nothing of the sort!" I gave her a look. "Alright, maybe I do, but she deserves it. For all that she has put me and this school through, don't you think that she deserves—" I cut her off.

"Deserves what? To have to hunt down, kill, and bury the love of her life? To have lost her boyfriend a few months ago, and to have to kill his murderers? To have no mother or family that has anything to do with her? I think she's been through enough. Not to mention the things that people in this school spread around about her." I spat at her. I stood up, moving to join the other guardians that were lining the walls next to the door.

_Rose really has been through enough to last a lifetime. She shouldn't have to do this. _

RPOV

I opened my mouth to speak, but Lissa put a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at her, putting my back to the students. I gave her a questioning look. "I just thought you should know that Tasha Ozera is here. I know she had a thing for Dimitri…" she said.

_Crap_. "It's okay, Liss." I smiled, but she could tell that I was nervous. She gave me a hug, then went to sit by Christian. I turned back to the microphone.

I cleared my throat. "As you can see, I'm not dead. I'm also not good a speeches, but Headmistress Kirova thinks that you all should be informed of why I left. So, here it is: everything, all of it is true, and many of you may think that I'm lying, or that I'm crazy, but I don't care. All of you know by now that Lissa Dragomir and I have a bond; I can feel her thoughts and emotions, but she can't fell mine. You know that she is specialized in an almost-unheard-of element: Spirit, and that she can heal. Before Lissa and I left about three years ago, I knew that something was going to happen. I could feel us being watched, and all I knew was that I had to get us both out of there. So we left, and we managed to escape everything that the school and Victor Dashkov sent at us. And, of course, Lissa had to get blood somewhere while we were gone; so I gave her mine." I said boldly. There was a stirring in the audience from those who had not already put two and two together. "Finally, after two years, the school managed to send a group of guardians who managed to get us off guard. One of these guardians was Dimitri Belikov." My voice cracked when I said his full name. A month ago, I was wishing that it might be my name one day, too. "When we got back to this school, Headmistress Kirova was very certain that I should not be able to attend classes at this school, but Dimitri changed her mind; he offered to mentor me. I'm sure most of you wonder where this is going… so I might as well get there." I laughed humorlessly. "Dimitri and I were always attracted to each other, but he tried to stay stoic and solid around me, tried not to let me know that he cared about me. When Victor Dashkv kidnapped Lissa, he gave me a necklace with a lust charm embedded into it. I knew something was wrong with Lissa because of our bond, but when I went to tell Dimitri, we couldn't keep our hands off of each other.

A lust spell will only work if the two people involved are willing. Victor's sick plan almost worked, but Dimitri took the necklace off of me, giving us both the sense to realize that something was going on. We alerted the guardians and went to save Lissa, and you know how the rest of that story goes. Dimitri begged me to report him, but I wouldn't. I was convinced that there was something there—I was in love with him. He told me no, that there wasn't anything between us, so I let it go. But he was lying to save us both the heartache. We knew that we couldn't be together, we were both going to be Lissa's guardians soon—we couldn't afford to be distracted, we had to be able to protect her.

So, we fought it. We tried to stay away from each other, hoping that the distance would make us forget. It didn't. The harder we tried, the worse it got, until we couldn't stay away any longer. Then I started to see ghosts—a side-effect of the bond between me and Lissa. Dimtri believed me when no one else did. They all thought I was—am—crazy, but I'm not. I thought so too for a while, though. Another thing about Lissa's magic, sometimes it gets dark, meaning that it makes her angry or short-tempered or depressed. Another thing about our bond, I have the ability to take it away from her. You all know that after Jesse terrorized Lissa, her magic made her do some things that weren't good for her, or for Jesse, and I took it away. But, it made me go crazy, punching every inch of him that I could get to. Dimtri pulled me off and dragged me to that little cabin on the edge of the forest. And, things got carried away." I raised my eyebrows, knowing that every person in the room was thinking the same thing, and they were right. "What you're thinking is right," I said; I didn't want to have to openly admit that I had an affair with my mentor, but I guess that's what I was doing anyway. That's when I started to cry. I gasped, "He'd found a way for us to be together…" I was clinging to the podium now; it was the only thing keeping me from falling. "He was going to get… a job at the royal…court. And I was…going to be Lissa's guardian… we were going to be happy….for once...

"But then the attack came… and he was changed. So I went to Siberia to look for him…I f-found him in a… cave… And I killed him!" I screamed the last part. It rang out over the student; they looked completely shocked. There was a whole range of emotions on their faces: some were sorry for me, some of them were jealous, some were angry, and some, like Jesse and Ralf, looked like they had been handed the gossip lottery. Having regained my composure, I continued.

"I knew there were more in the cave, too many for me to handle under usual circumstances, but I didn't care. I managed to sneak up on smaller groups of them, usually anywhere from six to twelve of them—about 500 total. And that's when I came back here." I ended abruptly. "Okay, look. I'm not here to brag, or to show off, or anything like that. The old Rose may have, but I'm not. _I_ am here to teach _you_ how to fight. And anyone who messes with me, will have to answer to me. Got it?" every one of them nodded vigorously. I nodded back at them and stepped back, wiping the tears from my face. Kirova dismissed all of them, and they scattered. But, as I started to walk back to the dorm with Lissa, she stopped and pointed back towards the auditorium.

Walking towards me was a very angry-looking Tasha Ozera.

"You b****!" she yelled, coming to a stop about eight feet from me. She moved into an attack stance, her hands lighting up with fire. I stood my ground. The flames in her hands turned bright blue, and I thought, _she's going to barbecue me, and it will be over before anyone can stop her._

"Lissa, get back," I told her. She started to protest, but I shook my head tightly, never taking my eyes off of Tasha. "No. Lissa, there's no need for you to get hurt; I'll be fine." I said, knowing fully well that I wouldn't be fine if she decided to set me on fire.

Tasha growled, "You had no right to love him! He was mine, and you took him from me!"

"I had every right!" I said slowly and threateningly, loud enough to make everyone who had not left yet turn and watch us. _Good_, I thought, _maybe she'll think twice about murdering me now that everyone is watching._ "He was not yours, either. He had the choice to go away with you as your guardian, but he chose me. He chose love over whatever you had for him. Admiration. I loved him, more than anything, and no one can ever say otherwise. And he loved me. He wanted to die, and I gave him peace." A tear rolled down my cheek.

Tasha screamed. "No! I loved him!" I didn't see it coming; I should have paid more attention. A jet of flame came at me, catching my arm. I screamed in pain and tried to put it out. Everything was chaos now, kids and teachers were screaming, Christian had jumped between me and Tasha, and Lissa was in the process of picking her jaw up off of the ground; but I didn't notice much of this at the time. I had a big problem.

The fire that had engulfed my arm would not go out, and, the angrier Tasha got, the worse it burned. My arm was going to fall off, and I didn't know if Lissa could reattach or regenerate limbs. I screamed, "Christian!" He looked at me over his shoulder and his eyes widened at the sight of my barbecuing arm.

"Aunt Tasha! Stop! You don't want to hurt Rose; she didn't do anything! Please! Just put out the fire, so we can talk about this! You're going to burn her arm off!" he yelled at her. Anger flickered in her eyes, and the fire burned even hotter. I screamed again. Christian slapped her, snapping her back to reality. She released the flames. I sunk to the ground, cradling my charred arm. My vision flickered and threatened to pull me into unconsciousness, but I managed to keep my hold on reality, just barely. I saw something out of the corner of my eyes, and I looked up. I almost fainted again at what I saw. It wasn't Mason; it was someone who had been much closer to me. He shook his head sadly, looking first at Tasha, then at me. "Dimitri…" I whispered.

"What?" she spat at me, probably thinking that I was trying to rub his love for me in her face or something. Alberta had come to kneel beside me, stroking my hair and telling me that everything was going to be okay. That's when I noticed that I was crying.

"No….no!" I whispered. Lissa knelt in front of me, taking my face in her hands and trying to pull my eyes away from _him_. "What's wrong Rose? Do you see something?" she asked me. "Dimitri…" I answered. Then the darkness swallowed me.


	13. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Oh my word, I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in, like, 2 months! I've been so busy! But, hopefully now I can start to update at least once or twice a week again. Ick! Stupid high school! : ) **

**Anyway, I'm so loving all the awesome, sweet reviews I'm getting! **

**Oh, for those of you that have commented on it or asked, the reason that I edit all the cuss words out is because, in reality, I don't cuss. That's all you need to know, if you like cuss words in your stories, then just imagine! Haha**

**Something else: the reason that Rose killed SO many Strigoi in the cave was because... well, I don't really have a good reason. I love glory! and stories that make the main character suffer. and I LOVE the idea of Rose being covered in Molnija marks! So there! : P**

**Here it is! I'm hoping I haven't lost my mojo! **

"What's wrong with her? The painkillers should have dissolved a few hours ago," Lissa asked, worried.

"I don't know! I want her to wake up as much as you do!" Who was that? They sounded worried and completely frazzled… and really familiar. I knew that I should know him, but the pain was fogging up my brain. His voice sounded a bit muffled; he must have his hands over his face or something. Lissa sighed.

"I know. I know."

A new voice, "Her mind is protecting itself. So much has happened to her in this past month. She's exhausted, too. I'll bet she hasn't slept well since he died," Alberta supplied. Some part of me knew that I should open my eyes and let them know that I was okay, but everything hurt so badly; I couldn't find my eyes.

"You should go get some rest. You haven't left her side, it's been two days. She wouldn't want you to kill yourself because of her. You need blood. Go, stubborn," Lissa demanded. I heard him sigh, then get up. A hand covered mine, surprisingly warm. I felt him lean over me, kissing my eyelids. _There they are!_ I thought.

My eyes fluttered open, the light almost blinding me. I focused on the person leaning over me. "Adrian?" He pushed my hair away from my face, smiling anxiously.

"Rose," he sighed, "We were so worried about you." Lissa stepped up to the left side of my bed, reminding me of when I had first come back to the Academy just a few days ago. She smiled, tears of relief soaking her face. Christian stood with his back against the door frame, like he was asking if it was ok to be in the room. I looked at him questioningly, and Lissa beckoned him over to her. He approached the bed, standing behind Lissa with his arms around her waist.

I started to reach up and run my hand over my face, but pain sliced through my arm all the way up to my shoulder, making a guttural scream tear out of my mouth. Adrian pushed my arm back down gently. I panted, tears coming to my eyes. I looked down at my arm; it was wrapped up in some sort of bandage, but I could smell aloe. "Ouch," I whimpered.

"You remember what happened?" Lissa asked.

"I remember… Tasha…was angry with me… she found me after the assembly… and she… set me on fire?" I asked. Surely not.

"That about sums it up," Christian said. He actually looked guilty, though I couldn't imagine why. "Rose…" he started, "I'm so sorry about what she did to you." His face scrunched up in disgust. "I could never have imagined that she would use her magic to hurt someone, especially not you! She's gone completely crazy!"

"Christian, it's okay. It really wasn't your fault. And, if I remember correctly, you were the one who got her to stop the fire, not that I was paying much attention to what anyone was saying," I joked. He smiled, glad that I didn't blame him.

"Umm, Lissa?" she nodded. "No offense, and don't feel like I'm getting on your case or anything, but… why is my arm still like this?" I asked tentatively.

She smiled. "The doctors suggested that I wait until you wake up."

I smiled back. "Ok, then. I'm awake, and I don't mean to pressure you, but it hurts really, really bad!" I laughed.

They all laughed with me, and Lissa put her hand a few inches from my burned up arm. "Wait a sec!" I exclaimed randomly. She looked at me like I was crazy, but her hand pulled back. "I just want to know what it looks like, if that doesn't sound too crazy." Christian mumbled something about me already being crazy, and Lissa jabbed him in the ribs. I started to unwrap my arm, but it was a little difficult by myself.

"Umm, a little help, please?" Adrian volunteered. I wasn't expecting it to look as bad as it did. My skin was black and crimson red, puckered into strange lines where the skin had sealed back together. When the cool air in the room brushed up against it, it stung painfully. I was suddenly very angry at Tasha, and a bit scared of her, too.

"Okay, permission to heal me," I laughed. Her hand brushed against my arm lightly, glowing white, then the burn was gone. "Whoa. I'm never going to get used to you doing that, at least not to me." Lissa smiled, helping me out of the hospital bed. I stood with my back to Adrian. He cleared his throat.

"Umm, Rose? Maybe you should put some clothes on… not that I mind or anything, but…" he snickered. I looked down, noticing that all I was wearing was one of those retarded open-backed hospital gowns that just happened to be untied and exposing most of my backside to Adrian and anyone who bothered to look through the window. My face turned as purple as an eggplant as I snatched the sheet from the bed and covered myself with it. They were all giggling now. "Out! Now, you perv!" I pushed Adrian out the door, along with Lissa and Christian.

Once I had clothes on, I joined them in the hallway. "Do not make me wipe that smirk off of your face, Adrian," I growled, breezing past them.

Lissa laughed good-naturedly; they followed me outside the infirmary as we walked towards Kirova's office. "She said as soon as you woke up to go help the freshmen in the training field," Lissa supplied.

"Ha! This should be fun!" I sprinted towards the field, leaving my laughing friends behind.

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	14. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I ran to the training field, the wind blowing my long hair behind my shoulders. I had almost forgotten how good it felt to run. I used to hate running... until Dimitri made me love it. Running with him was the best part of my life for a long time, and I knew that for the rest of my life, I wouldn't be able to run without remembering him. I blinked my eyes rapidly to still the tears that threatened to fall. _Just enjoy it, Rose. Don't think about that now. You have a job to do._

But then I remembered what had happened just before I passed out. I stopped running, just a few steps from the practice field. _I saw his ghost._ My breathing sped up, almost to the point of hyperventilation. I had gotten used to seeing ghosts by then, but my Dimitri as a ghost was more than I could handle at the time. I stood there for a minute, until someone ran towards me, a guardian that I had never seen before.

"Hathaway! Something wrong?" he sneered. He obviously was not a fan of mine. He looked me up and down like I was one of the students and was not dressed properly for class. I looked down, seeing nothing wrong with my outfit. I was wearing black exercise pants and a white long-sleeved shirt and running shoes. "You'll do, I suppose," he muttered, turning back towards the field where freshmen were running around the track. I followed, coming up beside him.

"You obviously know my name, but I don't know yours," I said, looking up and into his face. He turned towards me, his dark hair and bright green eyes shining.

"I'm Guardian Julian Marks," he grinned, obviously expecting me to know who he was.

"Guardian Marks..." I trailed off. The name did sound familiar, but I couldn't remember where exactly I had heard it, or why.

"Enough talking. We're running with the freshmen this period. You're with me all day. If you see anyone slacking, fix it. Use your imagination." He smirked.

"Easy enough," I smirked back at him, breaking into a run. He fell into place beside me, matching my pace. We caught up with the students in about a second; they were slow. I laughed harshly. "This should be fun."

"Run faster! If she catches you, you'll be fighting her later!" he yelled out over them. All 20 heads turned at once to see me running up behind them, and I laughed at the terrified looks on their faces. They doubled their pace, the ones in the back tripping over themselves.

For the last 45 minutes of class, I managed to catch 12 of the 20 freshmen, and best each of them at hand-to-hand combat. I finished the day with Marks without speaking to him much; the guy had a cocky personality, that much I knew. But, just as I started to leave, his hand came down on my shoulder. I turned around to face him.

I hadn't noticed until then, but he was extremely tall. And handsome. He stood at least a foot over me. He had black hair, green eyes, and a face that looked like it was etched out of marble. The guy was built like Clark Kent, basically.

"Sorry about earlier," he started, looking me straight in the eyes, "I guess I came off a little—"

"Conceited? Jerk-ish? Smug? Self-absorbed?" I supplied, smiling slightly.

"Okay, okay. You're right, all of that." He smiled, flashing blindingly white teeth. "Can I ask you something... personal, I guess?" now he looked at me curiously.

"Shoot."

"You really killed all those Strigoi by yourself?"

"Yeah. I did." I wasn't sure why, but this guy was making me uncomfortable. I shifted my weight to my other foot and crossed my arms.

"You want to run?" he asked out of the blue.

"Sure?" I said like it was a question.

"Good. You lead. I had a feeling that you weren't running full out today. Trying to take it easy on the newbies, I guessed." He lunged, stretching his calves. I started to stretch, too, rolling my shoulders and neck and bending down to touch my toes.

"Maybe I was," I said. I finished stretching and walked towards the door of the gym. I turned before going outside, checking to see if he was behind me. He was, but his eyes were glued to my lower back, a mixture of awe and respect on his face. While I was stretching, my shirt had come up a few inches, revealing several of my _molnija_ marks.

"Whoa," he whispered. He came to stand behind me, still looking at the marks. "May I?" he asked. I nodded.

He knelt down, his face coming to the same level as my last row of marks. His warm hands traced my marks, and I shivered. He slid my shirt up several inches in the back, following the rows of tattoos. I winced and tensed a little when he touched some of them; they were still sore. When he finished with my back, he pulled my back into place and grabbed my wrist, spinning me around to face him. He was still kneeling.

Taking my hands into one of his, he started to slide my sleeve up, stopping at the first raised bite mark. He winced, examining it. I pulled away. "I thought you wanted to run?" I asked, swallowing. He smiled a little.

"Yeah. Let's go."

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**That Night:**

After running, I swung by the cafeteria to grab some food, and then went straight to my room. I was sweaty and my clothes were sticking to me, so I ate quickly, and took a shower. I put on a pair of comfortable jeans and a tee shirt; Christian and Lissa were going to watch a movie later in one of the lounges, and they had invited me to join them.

But, I just couldn't keep my mind off of Guardian Marks. He was strange, but fun to be around at the same time. He reminded me bizarrely of Mason. I mean, he was cocky and a bit conceited, but cute and funny, too. He may turn out to be a good friend to have, I thought. A knock on my door brought me back to reality.

I opened it slightly, peeking out. "Adrian? Something wrong?" I asked. He was standing a respectable distance from my doorway, looking super tired. His shoulders were slumped slightly, and he had huge bags under his eyes.

"I just... may I come in?" he said, always the gentlemen. Well, almost always.

"Sure," I swung the door open wide, leaning against it. He walked in, looking slightly uncomfortable. I shut the door behind him, locked it, and stood in front of him. "Come on, Adrian. Something's wrong, I can tell."

"Little dhampir," he sighed. "About that promise you made me..." he trailed off.

"Adrian—," I started.

"No, Rose." He whipped around to face me, a hurting, but determined, expression on his face.

"What?"

"No. Forget that I even asked, Rose. I understand. You loved him. You can't just get over someone like that." He looked like someone had ripped his heart out and force-fed it to him.

"No!" I almost yelled. He looked taken aback. I turned around so that he was standing behind me; this would be easier without having to look at him. "I mean, I was going to say that I want to keep it. I think that you deserve a chance, and I just wanted to tell you that I'm not going back on my word. I promised you, and I don't go back on my promises. They're all I have left." I changed subject abruptly, "Lissa and Christian are meeting in one of the empty lounges to watch a movie later tonight. Do you want to come?" I said in one breath. He just stood there, looking at me like I'd offered him a million dollars. Then the sarcasm came back.

"Just can't resist me, can you?" he smirked. "Yes, I'd love to watch a movie with you, Lissa, and Christian." He announced, smiling. I rolled my eyes and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

I heard him moving and walking away, but then he stopped. He walked back over to stand behind me. He put his hands on my arms, pulling me backwards to stand closely in front of him. He set his head on top of mine, breathing in my scent. I stiffened for a moment; I didn't know if I wanted to encourage him or if I needed more time.

After a few seconds, I gave in and leaned back and into his chest. He sighed. We stood there for a moment, then I turned around, putting my hands on his shoulders. He gazed down into my eyes with a small smile on his lips. I stared right back at him, noticing for the first time everything about him, all at once: His gorgeous, bright green eyes; his tall, muscular frame, so uncharacteristic of a Moroi; and his happiness that I had finally stopped pushing him away, which was etched into every line of his face. Then time froze. I can't tell you how long we stood there, looking into each others' eyes. I sighed, finally, and looked away.

"Adrian…" I started, "I don't know how long it's going to take for me to feel okay again…" I trailed off.

"It's okay, Rose," he tilted my chin up to see me better; a single tear rolled down my face. "I understand, and I can wait." He smiled mischievously, and I wondered what he was up to. "I can wait, because…" he stopped, tripping over his words. It surprised me; I don't think I had ever seen him _not_ so sure of himself. "I love you, little dhampir."

I didn't know what to say. Part of me had already known it, but the rest of me just hung on to the fantasy that this was all still a dream and Dimitri was going to come back, that stern, seeing-but-not-seeing guardian look on his face, that only he could love me. But the sensible part of me told me now that I was awake, this was real, his love was real, and I shouldn't blow it off like it was nothing; I knew what that felt like.

"I don't know if I can love you… But I can try, eventually,"

"That's all I'm asking for, little dhampir."

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**Wow! I actually updated twice in 2 days! Haha...**

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